Joe Cain, left, KFB's Commodity Division Director, and Steve Coleman, retired Director of the Kentucky Division of Conservation and Chairman of the newly formed Water Management Working Group, listen as presentations are made during the initial meeting of the task force.

Identifying financial and regulatory challenges, improving ties between water suppliers and communities, assessing available resources and educating farmers on water management were among the chief topics mentioned as KFB’s “Water Management Working Group” established its agenda. KFB President Mark Haney, who appointed the 20-member committee, urged the group to focus on three objectives: (1) research the status of water supplies in the state; (2) examine potential action to raise the availability of water to farms; and (3) make recommendations to the appropriate federal, state and private entities.

After a morning session in which officials from the U.S. Geological Survey gave a presentation on Kentucky’s water resources, Committee Chairman Steve Coleman said the group “is just beginning to scratch the surface.” Coleman, the former Director of the Kentucky Division of Conservation, commended KFB “for having an eye to the future.”

Haney, a Pulaski County farmer in his seventh year as KFB president, said the organization regards water as a looming critical issue for Kentucky farmers as they seek to feed a growing world population.

“This has the possibility of being a big ticket item,” Haney told the committee. “On-farm water is a must for the future of agriculture. I’m excited about the potential” of developing sources.

Kentucky agriculture has been hit hard by drought in three of the past 15 years plus has had three other years with significant loss. A very small percentage of Kentucky’s cropland is irrigated, according to federal reports.